The government of Persia is an absolute despotism; the king himself cannot change his own edicts. Sanguinary and barbarous punishments are very common; the eyes being sometimes put out. Theft is punished by making a hole in a wall, putting the offender in, and building it up again, thus suffocating him. The lower classes are punished by the bastinado, or whipping the feet.
How to get Letters Free.—A shrewd countryman, being informed that there was a letter for him in the post-office, went accordingly for it. On the postmaster’s handing it to him, he frankly confessed that he could not read, and requested the postmaster to open it, and let him know the contents, which he very readily did. After getting all the information he wanted, he knowingly shrugged up his shoulders, thanked him for his politeness, and dryly observed—“When I have some change I’ll call and take it.”
“Love one Another.”—A Welsh parson, preaching from this text, told his congregation, that in kind and respectful treatment to our fellow-creatures, we were inferior to the brute creation. As an illustration of the truth of this remark, he quoted an instance of two goats, in his own parish, that once met upon a bridge so very narrow, that they could not pass by without one thrusting the other off into the river. “And,” continued he, “how do you think they acted? Why, I will tell you. One goat lay down, and let the other leap over him. Ah! beloved, let us live like goats.”
Varieties.
An Old Maid’s Will.—A maiden lady, who died in London, in 1786, left the following singular legacies in her will:—
“Item. I leave to my dear entertaining Jacko, (a monkey,) £10 per annum, during his natural life, to be expended yearly, for his support.”
“Item. To Shock and Tib, (a lapdog and a cat,) £5 each, for their annual subsistence during life; but should it so happen that Shock die before Tib, or Tib before Shock, then and in that case the survivor to have the whole.”